1. Field of the Invention
Among the many convenience foods are the so-called instant or precooked varieties. Included in this group of convenience foods are the instant cereals that do not require cooking but are prepared ready-to-eat by the addition of water in a prescribed amount. Among such instant cereals are those that have heretofore been employed for infant feeding. Because of their smooth homogeneous nature, such products suffer from the shortcoming that when the infant reaches a more discernible age, such as about six months, the lack of a mouth feel in the reconstituted cereal product makes such cereals less desirable.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various procedures have been developed for producing precooked cereals, such as illustrated by U.S. Pat. 1,990,329. In addition, procedures have heretofore been utilized to create adult cereals exhibiting a coarse texture, such as by utilizing edible ingredients of a different consistency. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,999,018 and 3,704,134 add rolled oats to an edible polysaccharide gum or an edible pregelatinized starch component. Similarly, copending U.S. Patent application Ser. No. 422,481, filed Dec. 6, 1973 for "Junior Cereal", provides for the combination of a pregelatinized base flake with quick cooking cereal flakes to provide an infant cereal with mouth feel. Still further, U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,447 represents an alternative process for providing greater consumer acceptability for such precooked dehydrated cereal products by incorporating therewith a substantial portion of fruit puree.